The invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of coleus plant named ‘UF16-27-1’. ‘UF16-27-1’ originated from an open-pollination conducted in May-November 2015 in Gainesville, Fla. between the female coleus plant ‘UF15-18-18’ (unpatented) and an unknown male coleus plant. A single seedling was chosen in May 2016 for further asexual propagation in Gainesville, Fla.
‘UF16-27-1’ has been reproduced asexually for over 18 months through vegetative cuttings and has been found to retain its distinctive characteristics through successive asexual propagations. ‘UF16-27-1’ was first propagated asexually by meristem tip cuttings in May 2016 in Gainesville, Fla., and has remained true-to-type since that time.
‘UF16-27-1’ has leaves that are uniform in size and uniformly chartreuse in color, whereas, ‘UF15-18-18’, the female parent, has smaller leaves that are predominantly chartreuse in color, but are tinged with red throughout the leaf. ‘UF16-27-1’ has an extremely vigorous spreading growth habit with plants growing much wider than they are tall; whereas, ‘UF15-18-18’ is much less vigorous, and much more upright in habit with less lateral branching.
‘UF16-27-1’ has similar bright chartreuse foliage color to commercial variety ‘UF08-4-3’ (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 23,585), but it has a different leaf shape and is not upright and rangy in habit. ‘UF16-27-1’ has leaves similar in shape and color to commercial variety ‘UF12-30-6’ (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 27,140), but it has a different plant growth habit. ‘UF16-27-1’ grows in a spreading form growing wider than it is tall; whereas, ‘UF12-30-6’ is upright and grows taller than it is wide.